As you know by now, life is nuts and then you die. We’ve actually had the best life has ever had to offer in the history of mankind. Nothing could be as cool or as safe as we have seen it in our lifetime.
LET’S CELEBRATE—All we are capable of doing, all our friends and all we’ve been able to do in this amazingly short chunk of history.
Ride fast and free, forever! And happy holidays!
–Bandit
In its last financial year before the pandemic struck, Enfield company sold about 824,000 bikes globally. Harley, by contrast, shipped about 218,000.
Last year Enfield company doubled the size of one of its three factories, bringing overall production capacity to 1.2 million motorcycles a year.
To build buzz Enfield company has tried marketing to American customizers and flat-track competitors, and in 2018 it put Cayla Rivas, a teenage motorcycle racer, on a souped-up Continental in pursuit of a speed record for its bike class—and compelling footage for YouTube. (She hit 157 mph on Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats.)
Although it may sound counterintuitive, “the U.S. and Europe are very important” to making Enfield the aspirational bike of choice for the developing world, he says.
Lal wants to be as big a player in the West as possible, but he argues that Royal Enfield doesn’t necessarily have to sell that many bikes in developed countries for the strategy to be considered a success. What it does need to do is move enough to give them a patina of cool at home and in other emerging markets, such as Southeast Asia.
by Joe D’Allegro from https://www.cnbc.com
Tesla reached a $500 billion market valuation this week, a sign of its dominance in the electric vehicle market. But Elon Musk has shown no real interest in one growing EV segment: battery-powered scooters and motorcycles. An accident he suffered as a youth on a motorbike — nearly fatal, Musk has said — turned him off two-wheelers, for now. But the manufacturing of battery powered bikes is growing and consolidating, which means it’s likely to produce one or more dominant players in the years to come.
The electric motorcycle and scooter market reached $30 billion in 2019, according to a June 2020 report by Preeti Wadhwani and Prasenjit Saha from the research company Global Market Insights (GMI). They estimated that the market — which includes everything from large motorcycles meant for interstate cruising to tiny stand-up scooters as used by Lime and Bird — will grow more than 4% annually for the next few years and hit $40 billion in 2026.
Concerns over vehicular emissions, increasing consumer awareness about air pollution, and increasing investments by government authorities in the development of EV charging infrastructure are all expected to keep the market growing. Another factor boosting electric bike prospects is the continued improvement in batteries.
E-bikes, scooters and motorcycles
Electric motorcycles and scooters are still relatively pricey, and none yet matches the range of the best gas bikes, but that’s slowly changing. Lithium ion battery costs are down 85% in the last decade, said Garrett Nelson, senior equity analyst at CFRA Research. Within another 10 years, electric motorcycles can achieve price parity with gas bikes, he predicts.
“The playing field is wide open,” says Nelson. He noted that Honda, Yamaha and Harley-Davidson together control about two-thirds of the global motorcycle market, and are each developing electric motorbikes. So too are other big established players, such as the Indian-multinationals Hero Motors and Bajaj Auto, and some smaller electric-only startups, including Zero Motorcycles and Energetica.
Electric mobility is leading to a manufacturing boom for vehicles sized between small foldable scooters and full-on motorcycles, said Sam Korus, an analyst at ARK Invest, which is known for its big bet on Tesla. Uber led a round of investment in Lime earlier this year, while Bird is reportedly considering a public offering through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).
Troy Siahaan, a road test editor at Motorcycle.com, races a lightweight custom-built electric bike, giving him insight into the similarities and differences between gas and electric two-wheelers.
“The riding experience of an electric bike is similar to gas-powered motorcycles in that you twist the throttle and go,” he said, “but you don’t get sound, vibration or engine heat with electric bikes. By and large, they also don’t require shifting, so they’re easier for new riders than most gas bikes.”
Siahaan also likes the torque output — a measure of the acceleration — of electric bikes, since it is all available at the outset.
Nelson noted that most growth right now is in the small- to mid-sized section of the electric motorcycle and scooter market. These are popular in China and Southeast Asia, where two-wheelers are more common as a mode of transportation, and pollution and noise reduction are socially and environmentally appealing.
Post-Covid-19 demand in urban mobility
Korus said Chinese scooter manufacturer NIU is among the promising players operating in the space between small folding scooters and large motorcycles. The company, which went public in 2018, sells its app-supported smart scooters in 38 countries across Asia, Europe and North and South America. Its stock has risen sharply. The stylish sit-on scooters offer up to 87 miles of range (140 km), multi-color dynamic gauge displays and GPS-based anti-theft systems.
NIU’s primary competition are low-cost manufacturers in China, which make scooters that are less “smart” than its offerings, as well as the higher-end players out of Asia and Europe, which tend to be priced higher. A NIU model may sell for roughly $3,100, while a comparable Honda is over $5,000, a Vespa over $7,000, and a BMW anywhere from $10,000 to $15,000, according to Vincent Yu, a Needham & Co. analyst.
Korus noted that NIU’s software actively collects data that can be used to support autonomous driving and allows the company to add value on top of just selling products. This is also a key feature of Tesla’s business model, which ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood has pointed to in her bullish thesis on Musk’s company. But for NIU, monetization of autonomous driving may be fairly far off into the future. Yu said today there is high value in the smart features focused on theft prevention and vehicle maintenance, for example, knowing when parts need replacement. Its lightweight lithium-ion batteries are also an advantage over heavier, older electric scooters as consumers look for more portable batteries that are easier to swap in and out.
A big question for NIU is just how big the market can get and whether it can grow both manufacturing capacity and a retail store network along with it, Yu said. Asia is still heavily reliant on petroleum-based scooters, especially Southeast Asia, but that is changing. And, as the world emerges from the Covid pandemic, Yu is betting more travelers will shy away from mass transit and opt for scooters. In countries like China, they are much easier to obtain than cars thanks to lower costs and less regulation and permitting requirements, especially in larger cities.
NIU commands over 26% of the Chinese e-scooter sales market, and has risen in Europe to No. 3 over the past two years. Yu added that NIU is building a new factory, targeting major Southeast Asian markets like Indonesia, and adding more stores around the world to capitalize on the demand. In Q3, the company opened 182 stores and now has another 100 under construction.
Harley-Davidson and the electric future
In the U.S., smaller motorcycles suitable for urban transportation and only occasional highway use are not as popular as in Asia and Europe. Nelson said U.S. buyers tend to be older and favor larger bikes with traditional looks and the signature sounds of a combustion engine.
Harley-Davidson, the largest and oldest U.S. motorcycle manufacturer, has addressed these buyers with its LiveWire, an electric motorcycle with traditional cruiser styling and an impressive 105 horsepower that lets it accelerate to 60 miles per hour in a quick 3.1 seconds. The LiveWire is 7-feet long and nearly 550 pounds, giving it the size and weight to fit in with the company’s mainstream gas-powered offerings, but, at $30,000, it’s just too expensive for many potential customers.
With the traditional American motorcycle buyer aging, Harley sales are down almost 40% since their peak in 2006. “Demographics will be a problem for them,” Nelson said.
Harley is committed to electric under a relatively new management team, led by CEO Jochen Zeitz, who earned high marks for his focus on sustainability as CEO of Puma. “We believe electric needs to play an important role in the future of Harley-Davidson,” he recently told Wall Street analysts. He said sales volumes are low relative to traditional bikes, but added, “It must be an important segment in the long term future of the company and it’s also attracting new riders, new customers to the brand that might not have considered Harley-Davidson before.”
Craig Kennison, who covers Harley for RW Baird, said the priority for Zeitz and his team is to shore up Harley’s finances and focus its business on the key markets where it can generate the most profits from core consumers today, and it will continue to generate the vast majority of its business from its V-twin internal combustion engine cycles (sales for LiveWire are not disclosed but the assumption is they remain very minor). “It’s not a big number,” Kennison said.
Similar to the path chosen by Tesla to first focus on the luxury consumer, Harley needs to perfect the electric motorcycle technology and given the price points today — it cannot alone control the cost curve in key areas like battery technology — only over time will it become more affordable to a larger consumer market. But if Harley makes the right decisions on current profitability centers, it will support the investment in electric vehicles over the decades to come, he said. “Right now Harley has a huge market and needs to make as much money as they can, and servicing the core customer, which is still highly profitable, is the focus.”
Harley is headed into the pedal bicycle market as well. It recently announced that it will spin off its electric bicycle effort, which has been in research and development for a few years, retaining a minority stake in the new firm, Serial 1 Company, a reference to its first-ever machine.
Targeting the e-bicycle market, with pricing below $5,000, is a smart move by Harley’s new management, as it makes the brand affordable for the masses in a growing segment, said Brandon Rolle, Northcoast Research analyst. And similar to NIU’s target scooter market, riders may not need a driver’s license to operate these vehicles, which will help in Harley-Davidson’s appeal to urban commuters and casual recreational cyclists.
High-end bicycle makers like Specialized have an early lead in this market — e-bikes which generate power that is multiplied by the human pedaling activity — and it does have the potential for widespread appeal in the future, according to Kennison. “It lets ‘the everyman’ get on the road … especially during the pandemic people want to get outside and bicycling is a great way to do it, but depending on your fitness level, having the added electrical power creates a totally different experience. You can go 20 to 50 miles and it changes the appeal” he said.
Harley’s motorcycle competitors
In the near future, pent up demand for outdoor products caused by Covid-19 could benefit motorcycle makers, including Harley, which has had a “rough last five years” according to Wedbush Securities analyst James Hardiman. “A lot of investors have looked at Harley-Davidson and the broader motorcycle one as not benefitting,” from the new outdoors boom, the analyst said. But industry sales and used sales are both up, and those are precursors for a broader-based recovery in bike sales, Hardiman recently told CNBC. While the bear case about the aging demographics isn’t going away, it has been that way for a decade already, he said.
Among Harley’s competitors for the future full-size motorcycle buyer are not just traditional players like Honda and Yamaha, but Zero and Energetica, which have some of the most advanced electric bike technology currently available, Siahaan said.
Zero, founded in Santa Cruz, California, in 2006, isn’t a household name, but it’s one of the most established players in the field. It began selling electric motorcycles in 2009, making it one of the very first production two-wheelers (the earliest production electric motorcycles and scooters appeared in the 1970s and 1990s, respectively, but enjoyed limited success).
Zero’s current all-electric line-up includes everything from the FX, a small on- and off-road capable “dual-sport” motorcycle starting at $9,300, all the way up to the SR/S sportbike which starts at $20,000. The 110-horsepower SR/S can reach 124 miles per hour and is capable of more than 200 miles of range when equipped with an enhanced battery. The FR/S is so advanced Road and Track alluded to Zero getting close to the being the Tesla of two wheels in its review. Zero offers it with an app that lets users modify the bikes maximum speed, power, torque and regenerative braking parameters.
Zero reached a 10-year deal with Polaris, a recreational vehicle powerhouse, that should give it the resources to further expand manufacturing and distribution. It will bring Zero’s powertrain technology and software to Polaris’ lineup of snowmobiles and off-road vehicles.
The high-end brand Energetica was formed in 2010 as a subsidiary of CRP Group, a motorsport and aviation manufacturer based in Modena, Italy. It offers a small lineup of attractively styled bikes starting at $17,600 for the general-purpose Eva EsseEsse9, and ending with the top-of-the-line Ego+. The latter is a 145-horsepower sportbike with an eye-watering starting price of nearly $24,000, but a 150 mph top speed and up to 250 miles of range.
Saha of the Global Marketing Institute told CNBC that the company is investing highly in R&D and owns several patents related to electric vehicle manufacturing in Europe, Asia, and North America.
Of course, as the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world, Honda Motorcycles of Japan, is not standing still. It recently filed patents for electric-powered versions of its CB125R and CB300R, these are small, easy to manage general purpose bikes with “café racer” styling.
Saha notes that Honda is also making large investments in the development of swappable battery technology for electric motorcycles to allow riders to quickly replace the batteries after use. These moves, and factors like its global dealer and distribution network will aid Honda, Saha said.
Tesla moving beyond cars
And then there is Tesla. Though Musk has said the company will not produce a road bike, he has announced plans to release an electric all-terrain vehicle, the Cyberquad, late in 2021, and has at least teased the possibility of one day making a two-wheeled electric bike. In the least, Tesla could easily pivot a portion of its battery business to supplying other manufacturers, says Nelson.
Generating revenue is a big concern for any start-up, but especially in the electric motorcycle space, where federal and state-level regulation abound and consumer expectations are high. Many of the companies that first entered the electric two-wheeler market place have failed or been absorbed by larger players. This includes Brammo, which launched in 2002 and sold bikes with six-speed transmissions like those in traditional gas bikes rather than the single-speed automatics most electric manufacturers use. It was first purchased by the recreational vehicle maker Polaris in 2015, then engine maker Cummins in 2017. Brammo-branded bikes are no longer sold, but its technology lives on with its purchasers.
A similar fate befell Alta Motors, a maker of technologically advanced off-road electric bikes. The company shuttered operations in 2018 and its assets were taken over by Bombardier’s Recreational Products business in 2019 for use across its product lineup, which includes Ski Doo snowmobiles and the Can-Am line of three-wheel motorcycles.
“It’s always difficult to predict the future,” Siahaan said. “A lot of companies come out with big, bold announcements, but never even come to market.”
“It’s very early, so it is difficult to see how it all plays out, but that’s typical of a true growth market,” added Kennison.
by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com
Suicide Machine Harley-Davidson Softail Is All About Bare Bones, Light Riding
Weight saving. This was pretty much the idea behind the latest project coming from Suicide Machine Company (SMCO) and destined for the now canceled Born Free Motorcycle Show.
SMCO is a shop we’ve featured before. Led by two brothers, Shaun and Aaron Guardado, the garage was part of the bike maker’s The No Show online motorcycle event, held a few months back in support of all the builders that because of the health crisis were left without a venue to show their creations.
Back then, they presented a 2019 Road Glide Special modified to get a more aggressive riding position, one better suited for trips down highways. And now we’re getting a bike the shop describes as a “performance-driven and race-inspired” product.
What you’re looking at is a seriously lightened and undressed Harley-Davidson Softail Standard. It is the result of two months of work that saw a lot of the motorcycle’s hardware either being removed completely or replaced, all with the goal of making it lighter.
First, a lot of the original bodywork is gone. The fenders have been taken out, a new and full carbon fiber bodywork was placed on top of the frame. Not even the tank remains, having been replaced with a fuel cell hidden inside the new body.
Carbon fiber has been used extensively on this build, down to the tubes and the wheels that now weigh just a quarter of what the original ones weighed. Also, lighting and wiring have been kept to a minimum, and a titanium exhaust was added.
The bike continues to be powered by the stock 107 Milwaukee Eight engine, only it is no longer fuel-injected, but uses a 45mm Mikuni carburetor.
SMCO says the bike can be ridden as is, and you can see a bit of how that’s like by having a look at the video embedded below.
by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com
Going for a pre-owned vehicle, regardless of its type or number of wheels, is always risky business. Despite all the tools the modern world puts at the disposal of the buyers, one could always end up taking home something really faulty.
That’s why we have certified pre-owned programs. Generally ran through dealers or the car/bike makers themselves, these initiatives try to put the buyers’ minds at ease by supplying them with all the correct info and checks for a vehicle.
British bike maker Triumph has been running such a program on the home continent for a while now, and apparently it was successful enough for the company to decide an expansion on the U.S. market would be in order. As such, starting November 23, the Triumph Certified Pre-Owned Motorcycle Program kicked off.
According to Triumph, bikes sold through this program come with a few perks. First, there is the quality check performed by the bike maker’s or its dealer’s personnel. The two-wheelers will thus have a full-service history, but also multi-point inspection and all rectification work, if needed, completed.
Then, each one will come with minimum 1-year, unlimited mileage warranty, but also 1-year roadside assistance. Financing for bikes sold this way is also available.
This program is good news for those trying to sell as well. Triumph accepts into this program bikes up to 5 years of age from first registration, with a maximum mileage of 25,000 miles (40,000 km). Those involved in major accidents, used for racing, or equipped with non-Triumph hardware will not be accepted.
“We are proud to offer a Certified Pre-Owned program, ensuring that customers joining the Triumph family with a pre-owned motorcycle are given the same great product experience and factory-backed assurances as someone buying a brand-new Triumph,” said in a statement Rod Lopusnak – General Manager, Triumph North America.
“The program also offers a great benefit to new bike buyers, by protecting the residual value of their brand-new Triumph when they’re ready to sell or trade-in for a new bike. And for our dealers, they’re now able to list their Certified Pre-Owned motorcycle inventory on our new website for national visibility.”
by Sabrina Giacomini from https://www.rideapart.com
Not all new motorcycle rumors are true, especially when you’re Honda and you run your own rumor mill. Sometimes, however, despite all the noise, some of those rumors turn out to be real and we get nice surprises like this shiny new 2021 Honda Rebel 1100.
We’ve been talking about a possible Rebel 1100 since March, 2020, when the folks at Young Machine published a render of an upscaled Rebel 500 armed with the Africa Twin’s new 1100 engine. The bike ultimately showed up in a patent in October which seemed to confirm the rumor. It became more a matter of “when” rather than “if”.
Well, folks, the “when” is November 24. Honda pulled the cover off its all-new buffed up Rebel, equipped, as expected with a retuned version of the CRF1100L’s 1,084cc, 270-degree, Unicam, parallel-twin. Also, like the Africa, the Rebel 1100 is equipped with a ride-by-wire throttle that allows the cruiser to feature three riding modes (Standard, Sport, and Rain) and is offered with a choice of a six-speed gearbox or a DCT.
At the front, the cruiser chassis is mounted to a 43mm telescopic fork while the back is support by a pair of Showa shocks with piggyback reservoirs. The 18-inch front wheel is equipped with a 330mm disc with a four-piston caliper while the 16-inch rear wheel gets its stopping power from a single 256mm disc. The bike also features ABS at both wheels and Honda Selectable Torque Control with wheelie control.
A 3.6-gallon fuel tank sits on top of the chassis (versus 2.96 gallons for the Rebel 500 for comparison) and the bike weighs in at a total of 487 pounds for the manual trim level and at 509 pounds with the DCT.
Pricing for the new 2021 Honda Rebel 1100 starts at $9,299 which is $700 cheaper than, say, the Harley-Davidson Iron 1200 ($9,999) and $2,000 less than the Forty-Eight (for a comparable bobber-ish silhouette). Honda also offers a collection of factory accessories that includes soft saddlebags with rack, a batwing fairing, quilted saddles in black and tan
Chinese Harley-Davidson, Status of old motorcycles in Europe, Trade War and Tariffs on motorcycles and its parts, Off-Road Bikes on the Street and more.
Compiled & Edited by Bill Bish
National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM)
The National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM) is a nationwide motorcyclists rights organization serving over 2,000 NCOM Member Groups throughout the United States, with all services fully-funded through Aid to Injured Motorcyclist (AIM) Attorneys available in each state who donate a portion of their legal fees from motorcycle accidents back into the NCOM Network of Biker Services (www.ON-A-BIKE.com / 800-ON-A-BIKE).
by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com
Very few bike makers out there (and by extension car makers) are innovative enough to give birth to new families of engines that inspire generations. Harley-Davidson is one of those that are, as its powerplants were at times as famous as the bike models assembled in Milwaukee.
Say the word Knucklehead, and the mind immediately links that to Harley. And it has done so since 1936, when the engine came into the world.
Named so after the shape of valve covers, Knucklehead has come to stand for the type of motorcycles that were made in Milwaukee from 1936 to 1947, when the Panhead engine replace it. The name is still very much alive because bikes powered by this type of hardware are still a craze in the custom bike industry.
And you know that to be true when guys like Andreas Bergerforth, the main man of Thunderbike, a German custom shop specializing in Harleys, has one built for himself.
Put together close to a decade ago, the Knucklehead Project, as the garage calls this build, has all the traits of a bike of its age. Not only does it stay true to a wartime-era two-wheeler when it comes to shape and tech, but it also brings with it enough patina and beat-down stance to speak volumes about its lineage.
We’re told that for this bike to be brought back in shape, the original had to be dismantled “up to the last screw” and only then, after some love and care, put back together – there’s no mention on whether some of the hardware had to be replaced with new one.
Because this bike was built for in-house use, Thunderbike makes no mention of cost, but the Germans do say similar builds snatched back in 2012, when this one was put together, some 30,000 euros ($35,500 at today’s exchange rates), so that should give you an idea.
by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com
Historically speaking, the name Harley-Davidson has generally been associated with males. That’s because, for one, it is mostly males that ride them, and second, because we can’t really remember a Harley bike wearing a girl name.
But the naming policy that led to bikes being christened Iron, Street Bob (or the same Bob, only Fat), or Road King does not apply to the custom industry. It is there and only there where you can find, for instance, a Breakout called Stella.
The build by this name is the work of German custom shop Thunderbike, a regular on this scene for the past 20 years. Although the bikes the Germans make are at times incredible, the way in which they name the finished projects is sketchy to say the least. Probably knowing that, their latest customer asked for the customized Breakout he ordered to be called Stella, after his daughter.
Inspired by an older build of the garage called Mitch, Stella has been customized in the usual Thunderbike way, with a big focus on six main elements: fender, saddle, tank, wheels, fork and air ride.
Sporting an air ride suspension kit that allows for up to 10 cm height adjustment, Stella rides on custom wheels, sized 21 and 23 inches, and wrapped in Avon tires.
It looks different from stock Breakouts not only because of the above modifications, but also thanks to a host of others. The aluminum tank and rear fender were welded by hand, there’s a special and short Dr. Jekill & Mr. Hyde exhaust system on one side, and a leather saddle made to match the looks of the build.
You can have a look at all the parts used on this latest build from Thunderbike at this link. Don’t expect to get an idea of how much the project is worth, as the Germans are not in the habit of revealing that. We punched in some numbers though, as they appear in the garage’s inventory, and the around 30 different items used to complete this motorcycle amount to some 15,000 euros. That’s the equivalent of roughly $17,700 at today’s exchange rates, or dangerously close to the starting price of the bike in factory form.
by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com
The world’s best-known motorcycle company, Harley-Davidson, is not exactly enjoying its best of times. It’s been a rough run for the bike maker these past few years, and chances are the trend will continue to manifest itself in the near future as well. But Harley had it rough before, and somehow always managed to pull through.
In an attempt to get people’s minds of things, now that the winter holidays are approaching, Harley announced it is giving away 500 classes to its Riding Academy (each worth around $250). They are intended for people who have never ridden a motorcycle before, but only if they’re nominated by family or friends.
More to the point, from now and until the last day of the year, Harley is asking people to nominate someone they think deserves to enjoy the class for free. All you have to do to let the company know who that person is is to upload a photo of your favorite Harley-Davidson motorcycle on either Instagram or Twitter, and tag the non-rider while also including #GiftOfRiding and #Giveaway in your post.
Aside from the free class, each randomly selected winner will receive a $200 Harley-Davidson gift card to be used for riding gear. Another gift card worth $100 goes to the ones who made the winning nominations.
“The thrill of riding with your best friend and reconnecting over a shared adventure is the gift that will always keep giving,” said Theo Keetell, Vice President of Marketing, Harley-Davidson. “From backroads to coastal highways, motorcycle riding offers open-air exploration to free your soul and sense of adventure.”
This is not the first time Harley has done something for its riding programs this year. Back in July, it announced the Learn to Ride initiative which allows for personal coaching sessions with trainers, either individually or as a group of up to four people.
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